Government of the Kingdom of Italy

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The Government of the Kingdom of Italy (Italian: Governo del Regno d'Italia) or, more formally, King Duce's Government (Italian: Governo del Re-Duce) is the national government of Kingdom of Italy, the Italian Empire and its dependencies; it consists primarily of the Council of the Ministers (often referred to as Cabinet or directly as Government). The Government is the primary political agent of the Fascist Regime, with functions and policies formulated in accordance with the objectives and methods of the Fascist ideology. It is to note that the Council of Ministers is the highest political body in Italy, with the exception of the Duce. The National Fascist Party is not, per se, senior to the State government.

The Government is led by the Duce of Italy, who appoint a Chief of Government (full title: Prime Minister, Secretary of State and Chief of Government). The Chief of Government and the Ministers belong to the supreme decision-making committee, known as the Council of Ministers. Executive authority lies primarily with the Duce and partially with the Chief of Government and the Council of Ministers. Ministers advise the Duce and exercise power directly as leaders of the Ministries, but the Duce is not bound to follow advices. The Government is dependent on the Duce and on the Parliament to make a part of the primary legislation, but has partial legislative and full regulatory authority; in case of war, it is foreseen that Government delegates the full powers to issue laws to a committee consisting of the Duce, the Plenipotentiaries of Economy (Minister of National Economy), of Administration (Minister of the Interior) and the Minister of National Defence, the so-called War Quadrumvirate.

The Duce of Italy is King of Italy and the Head of State; he therefore takes a direct part in government. Some decisions to exercise sovereign powers are delegated from the Duce to Ministers or other public bodies, although the Duce retains all power to withdraw any delegation. The Government has the Duce as both chief executive and chief legislator.

Thus the major part of executive power is exercised by the Government. The Government has the operational direction of the Italian Armed Forces, the Public Administration and other officials, although the Duce's rule is direct and effective. Ministers are the overall heads of their Ministries; Each Minister can claim for himself any administrative proceedings under way in his Ministry and only the Ministers of National Defence and of Interior meet a particular limit if they consider to intervene in administrative proceedings of the Italian Armed Forces; no other agency or service is otherwise considered separated by its own relevant Ministry. It is to note that State Ministries are the supreme bodies, and P.N.F. bodies with the same responsibilities are firmly subjected to the administrative authority of the Ministries, meaning that the politicians and sector heads have Government positions, while the relevant Fascist organization acts as a policy instrument; the P.N.F. Secretary ranks equally as other Ministers.

Judicial power is vested in the Judiciary, who by constitutions and statutes have a degree of judicial autonomy from the Government.

Collective leadership

Collective leadership is the actual of governance in the Kingdom of Italy. Its main task is to distribute powers and functions among the Duce, P.N.F. Political Directory, the Grand Council of Fascism and the Council of Ministers to allow government in absence of an individual capable to create and command a one-man dominance over the Nation. The heart of the collective leadership is the Political Directory. Collective leadership is characterised by limiting the powers of the Duce and the Chief of Government as related to other offices by enhancing the powers of collective bodies. The collective leadership is officially disdained by Fascist ideology, but even Italo Debalti, the most powerful Italian chief of state after Mussolini, has to accept some power sharing compromises. However, the collective leadership is a de facto necessity, and is definitively not accepted as a fundamental part of the Fascist State: therefore, the concept may be applied flexibly to a variety of situations and the Duce is clearly senior than both Political Directory and Council of Minister: he acts as the leading broker in Political Directory sessions and is, however considered, the Party and the State leader.

Working for the Duce

Top officials report to Duce Italo Debalti and follow his policies, but they have a significant autonomy. Officials are expected to "work for the Duce", i.e. to take the initiative in promoting policies and actions in line with his wishes and guidelines, without the Duce having to be involved in the day-to-day running of the country. Unless requested or opportune, the Duce typically does not give written orders; instead he communicates them verbally, or has them conveyed through his close associates. The government is a partially coordinated, co-operating body. The process allows more unscrupulous and ambitious Fascists to get away with implementing the more radical and extreme elements of Fascist and Debalti's ideology.

Chief of Government

The Chief of Government is one of the Italian political leaders and the Head of Government. The Chief of Government, Ministers and Council of Ministers are both individually and collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Duce. Due to the central role of the Duce, the activities of the executive branch are significantly influenced by him: it is the Duce who appoints and dismisses the Chief of Government and other members of the government; the Duce may chair the meetings of the cabinet and give obligatory orders to the Chief of Government and other members of the government and the Chief of Government may also revoke any act of the government.

As the Head of Government, the Chief of Government is among the highest political authorities in Italy: he usually leads a major faction, generally commands a majority (or at least a plurality) in the Grand Council of Fascism and is the leader of the Council of Ministers.

Powers and constraints

When commissioned by the Duce, a potential Chief of Government's first requisite is to "form a Government". The Chief of Government then formally salutes the Duce. The Chief of Government will propose all other ministers, without any formal parliamentary control or process over these powers. At any time, he may propose to the Duce the appointment, dismissal or nominal resignation of any other minister; he may resign, either purely personally or with his whole government. The Chief of Government directs the policies and activities of the Government departments, acting as the main public "face" of Government.

The Chief of Government does not have command authority over the Italian Armed Forces, but he is the Head of the National Defence Mobilization Committee which is a department of the armed forces: the Chief of Government is responsible for the technical details of implementing government policy while the Duce gathers the political support necessary for government policy.

Although the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Armed Forces is the Duce, under daily and ordinary routine the Chief of Government, with the Minister of Defence, holds power over the deployment and disposition of Italian forces: nonetheless, the Chief of General Staff is largely autonomous and responsible directly to the Duce.

The Chief of Government proposes the major part of the most senior appointments, and many others are made by Ministers. Ambassadors, senior civil servants, senior military officers, members of important committees and commissions, and other officials are selected, and in most cases may be removed, by the Chief of Government.

Office for border areas

The Office for border areas is the organization charged with the defence of the Italian people in areas along sensitive borders. Among its tasks there are to liaise with individual ministries for everything concerning the administration of the border areas and to coordinate the activities of the various ministries. It is also responsible for dealing with political issues related to border areas (Corsica, Savoie, Val d'Aosta, South Tyrol, Dalmatia).

The defence is pursued primarily by granting loans to local joints of PNF and other cultural, sports, welfare and Catholic associations, through which manages to be present in the territory.

Council of Ministers

A Minister is the person who seats in the Council of Ministers and in charge of a Government Ministry, usually with long tenures in office. Every Minister is a member of the Council of Ministers, and acts as an advisory against the Chief of Government and the Duce and, on the other hand, is an organ placed in charge of a Ministry. In this role the Minister ensures the transmission of political address in the administrative policies. The fascist ministers have no real autonomy, nor can they express as such a dialectic in the formation of the address of the government, as their function is derived solely from the will of the Duce. Ministers last only on condition of interpreting, or at least not contradicting the Duce's will; nonetheless, the Council of Ministers is often a real policy-making body; differently from Socialist States, the P.N.F. per se has little say over policies formulation.

The cabinet consults together both by meetings and through the so-called circulation procedure. Under the latter procedure, which is chiefly used when meetings are not held, drafts of laws prepared in individual ministries are distributed to other cabinet members for approval or disapproval. A period of time is allowed for objections, after which the law is considered as being accepted by the various members of the Cabinet. Currently there are 17 Ministries in addition to the Political Secretary of the P.N.F. and to the Chief of Government.

  • Chief of Government;
  • Political Secretary of the National Fascist Party: his participation means the taking into account of the opinion of the P.N.F. as such;
  • Ministry of National Defence: in charge of the Italian Armed Forces
  • Ministry of Interior;
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italians abroad, Foreign Commerce and Industry;
  • Ministry of Economic Activities;
  • Ministry of National Economy;
  • Ministry of Economic Plan;
  • Ministry of State Participations;
  • Ministry of Environment;
  • Ministry of Grace and Justice;
  • Ministry of Corporations;
  • Ministry of Posts, Transportations and Communications;
  • Ministry of Energy;
  • Ministry of Public Facilities and Works;
  • Ministry of National Education and Science;
  • Ministry of Popular Culture;
  • Ministry of Public Administration;
  • Ministry of Health.

Ministerial colours

Employees of the different Ministries wear the apposite uniform of the Public Administration, with post and rank insignia and badges. Different Ministries have different colours in order to help the general public to easily identify them. Such colours are present on uniform, emblems, symbols and other items.

Ministry Italian name Current Minister Colour Notes
Presidency of Council of Ministers
Staff assigned to the Chief of Government
Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri
Personale assegnato al Capo del Governo
Elia Di Legnandrea Colore PdC e MPA.png
Political Secretariat of the P.N.F. Segreteria Politica del P.N.F. Pietro Esposito Colore PNF.png Black is the Party colour of the National Fascist Party; all Party members adopt this colour as official party colour. Also some security organizations (M.V.S.N.) wear this colour.
Ministry of Interior Ministero dell'Interno Angelo Spaniccia Colore Ministero dell'Interno.png
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italians abroad, Foreign Commerce and Industry Ministero degli Affari Esteri, degli Italiani all'Estero, del Commercio e dell'Industria Esteri Franco Durante Colore Ministero degli Esteri.png Often shortened in "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" (Ministero degli Affari Esteri).
Ministry of Economic Activities Ministero delle Attività Economiche Pierandrea Visentin Colore Ministeri economici.png All ministries directly related with the economy share Gold as branch colour.
Ministry of Economic Plan Ministero della Programmazione Economica Davide Notari Colore Ministeri economici.png All ministries directly related with the economy share Gold as branch colour.
Ministry of State Participations Ministero delle Partecipazioni Statali Vittorio Di Giovanni Colore Ministeri economici.png All ministries directly related with the economy share Gold as branch colour.
Ministry of Environment Ministero dell'Ambiente Ruggero Fitteoli Colore Ministero dell'Ambiente.png
Ministry of Grace and Justice Ministero di Grazia e Giustizia Giorgio Timori Colore Ministero della Giustizia.png
Ministry of National Defence Ministero della Difesa Nazionale Attilio Vannegutti Colore Ministero della Difesa.png
Ministry of Corporations Ministero delle Corporazioni Vincenzo Di Napoli Colore Ministero delle Corporazioni.png
Ministry of Posts, Transportations and Communications Ministero delle Poste, dei Trasporti e delle Comunicazioni Federica Scarrapacca Colore Ministero delle Comunicazioni e dell'Energia.png Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Energy share Gunmetal as branch colour.
Ministry of Energy Ministero dell'Energia Gualtiero Scannavacca Colore Ministero delle Comunicazioni e dell'Energia.png Ministry of Communications and Ministry of Energy share Gunmetal as branch colour, despite the latter being mainly related with industrial production.
Ministry of Public Facilities and Works Ministero delle Infrastrutture e dei Lavori Pubblici Benito Salina Colore Ministero delle Infrastrutture.png
Ministry of National Education and Science Ministero dell'Educazione Nazionale Federica Pinotti Colore Ministero dell'Educazion Nazionale.png
Ministry of Popular Culture Ministero della Cultura Popolare Marco Ottaviani Colore del MinCulPop.png
Ministry of Public Administration Ministero della Pubblica Amministrazione Renato Biondi Colore PdC e MPA.png The Ministry is derived from the Presidency of Council of Ministers.
Ministry for Health and Social Assistance Ministero della Salute e dell'Assistenza Sociale Beatrice Lorenzin Colore Ministero della Sanità.png The Ministry is also in charge for social welfare not related to occupational and labour matters.

Inter-ministerial Committee

The Inter-ministerial Committees are collegial bodies of the Government of accessories made of more Ministers, which arose to address the needs of particular sectors of public administration involving the skills and assets of more Ministers and, therefore, require the coordination of the activity. There are two types of Inter-ministerial committees:

  • Inter-ministerial Advisory Committees: they provide external relief and mandatory but non-binding opinions, they do not have power to adopt acts with external effect;
  • Inter-ministerial Regulatory Committees, who have specific skills of active administration, including the issuance of administrative acts, permits, approvals and regulations.

Interministerial Committee for Psychological Defence

The psychological defence of the Nation against liberalism and marxism and all sort of subversion is entrusted to a system of governmental organizations. The political organization of psychological defence is permanent, total (ie able to cover all aspects of social life), totalitarian and unitary, ie directed and coordinated at the highest hierarchical level of government. The question of psychological warfare is politically central because it is the operational declination of the totalitarian concept of the State: the State is totalitarian as a shield and sword of the Nation.
The psychological defence is politically coordinated by the Interministerial Committee for Psychological Defence, an advisory committee in charge of elaborating guidelines and directives.
The Interministerial Committee for Psychological Defence consists of the Chief of Government and of the Ministers of National Defence, of Interior, of Foreign Affairs, of Posts, Transportations and Communications, of Popular Culture, of National Education and Science and of Corporations, as well as of the Ministry-Secretary of the P.N.F. and has consultative powers. The interministerial committee is composed of the heads of the departments and not by their representatives, to underline the commitment of the decisions taken. Each Ministry is also responsible for implementing the plans in its field of intervention, respecting the distinction between military and political competences: in the field of psychological warfare, motives and motives for purely political responsibility can be identified, as can be traced back to strict military competence, aspects of psychological defence also in the national field.
The Chief of Government has the widest attributions: to give the general directives on the basis of the orders of the Duce, both in time of peace of war, and to assign the necessary means to each sector of the structure, making use of the help of the Interministerial Committee for the Psychological Defence and the Central Psychological Defence Office (technical administrative body, directly dependent on the Chief of Government).

Presidency of the Council of Ministers

The Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the King (Italian: Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri del Re, P.C.M.R.) is the support structure of the Chief of Government. The structure of the Presidency is organized in direct cooperation offices of the president, general structures of coordination and general structures of support to the Chief of Government for the exercise of the functions of coordination and general policy direction, as well as for the technical and managerial support.
The concept of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers dates back to the 1960s, when it was formed in order to fully separate the support organization to the Chief of Government from the administration of the Ministry of Interior (until then only the Mussolini-formed Cabinet of the Chief of Government existed). The most important reorganization occurred with the constitutional reform of 1993.

Functions

The Chief of Government makes use of the Presidency, in particular, for the leadership of the Prime Minister, for the relations of the government with the Duce and with other constitutional bodies, with local authorities, to the relations of the government with religious denominations. The Presidency also carries out the design of general policy decisions, the direction of legislation and administrative and institutional communication activities. The Presidency deal also with innovation in the public sector and the direction of the strategic policies.

Secretary General

The Secretary General oversees the organization and administration of the General Secretariat and is also responsible for the procurement staff. He prepares the annual and multi-annual budget and directs the General Secretariat.
The Secretary General is appointed by decree of the Chief of Government among the senior management of the State and equivalent, university professors or between strangers in public administration. The Secretary General may be assisted by one or more Deputy Secretaries-General.

Offices working directly with the Head of Government

The direct collaboration offices have the task of providing direct assistance and specific to the Chief of Government:

  • Office of the Head of Government, including the Special Secretariat
  • Office of the Spokesman of the Head of Government
  • Office of the Diplomatic Advisor
  • Office of the Military Advisor

Directorates-General and Autonomous Offices

The Directorates-General and Autonomous Offices are structures which are emtrusted the dealing with of homogeneous functional areas. The Directorates-General are divided into Divisions; Divisions in turn are divided into executive-level Offices. The Autonomous Offices are structures with comparable autonomy to the Directorates-General. They are divided in turn into executive-level Services.
All general structures (Directorates-General and Autonomous Offices) that are not handled by Ministers or Undersecretaries are part of the General Secretariat of the Presidency.
As of 2017, there are 14 Directorates General and 5 Autonomous Offices:

  • Directorate General for Coordination of matter pertaining regional affairs and local authorities;
  • Directorate General for Sport and Youth;
  • Directorate General for Drug policy;
  • Directorate General for Social cohesion policies;
  • Directorate General for Family and racial hygiene Policies;
  • Directorate General for Planning and coordination of economic policy;
  • Directorate General for Relations with the Parliament;
  • Directorate General for Institutional Reforms;
  • Directorate General for Legal and Legislative Affairs;
  • Directorate General for the Administrative coordination;
  • Directorate General of Information and Publications;
  • Directorate General for Personnel;
  • Directorate General for Instrumental services;
  • Autonomous Office for Government program;
  • Autonomous Office of the Internal control and integrity;
  • Autonomous Office of the Secretary General (always subordinated to the Secretary-General);
  • Autonomous Office of Budget;
  • Autonomous Office of State honours and ceremonial;
  • Office of the Director General of the National Security;
  • Central Office of Psychological Defence;
  • Secretarial Office of the Council of Ministers.

Central Office of Psychological Defence

Within the psychological defence of the Nation, the greatest part is carried out by the Central Office of Psychological Defence (Ufficio Centrale di Difesa Psicologica, U.C.D.P.), operating as the center of the whole organizational system.
The Office has the task of being the gathering point for information on enemy psychological warfare activities, in all sectors of public life, in order to elaborate the elements necessary for the Chief of Government and for the Duce to perform the functions of directing the psychological warfare activities, to prepare the discussion material for the meetings of the inter-ministerial committee, to take care of the execution of the decisions taken by the Committee, issuing directives, guidelines, detailed plans or programs, to direct the military and civil information agencies in relation to the issues of psychological warfare.
In addition, a Psychological Defense Office is set up in each Ministry, with specific internal competences, which depend administratively on the minister, and technically on the Head of the Central Office. The U.C.D.P. consists of:

  • a Director, chosen from among the officials with the rank of Director General (Rank IV) or above, appointed by the Chief of Government;
  • a Deputy Director, chosen from among officers of a rank not less than Major General or equivalent;
  • an Additional Deputy Director, chosen from among M.V.S.N. officers of a rank not less than Consul General;
  • Sectional heads, chosen from among the officials and officers of the relevant departments, with reference to specific skills.

The Psychological Training Technical Center depends on the Central Office and has the task of training the ministry's managerial, technical and specialist staff, drafting the relevant ministerial regulations and, more generally, the study center.

Crisis management

The natural operator of the crisis is the Government. The emergence of a crisis situation determines the initiative and alerting the individual departments, responsible for protecting the interests threatened or endangered.

The organization of technical and operational support of the political leadership is composed of three major functional centres with specific expertise strictly delimited. The institutional actors defining the defence strategy are diverse, from general political figures down to those with more concrete and technical functions, along the whole political-military hierarchy. The most general guidelines are given by the Duce who is the only one to have a general view of the activities of the various ministries and is the only one who can guarantee their coherence and coordination.

Managing security in a challenging world

Although the P.N.F. first and foremost task is to collect and convoy social demands into the Fascist Revolution, it always had a say over security system. While in the past decades the approach consisted of informally watching over State security apparatus and of filling it with Fascist and trusted personalities, as laid down back in 1920s, nowadays the security-and-safety enforcement has been deeply changed. Since mid-1990s, i.e. since the period when the Western powers have adopted a moderately hostile stance against Fascist Italy, the P.N.F. has stepped in and has taken over some responsibilities, in order to make more difficult to take control of the heart of the State.

The current organization of the general system of protection of safety in Italy comprises four macro-areas. They are, in order of increasing political sensitivity:

  1. Civil protection and civil defence;
  2. Application of the law and the fight against crime;
  3. Military defence of the State and of the Empire;
  4. Political defence of the State and the of the Regime.

At the same time, in Italy, there are three types of security actors: the State Armed Forces, civilian or mixed security organizations, and the armed corps of the P.N.F. (Militia). All four macro-areas see the participation, for various reasons and in differing degrees, of at least two of the three categories of public agencies, but, depending on the macro-theme, the figure ultimately responsible for the final outcome changes.

Civil protection and civil defence are managed and directed primarily by the Ministry of the Interior; ultimately responsible is the Director-General of the Technical Rescue and Civil Defence, in charge of directing, at the same time, the National Corps of the Fire Soldiers. The auxiliary bodies of the first tier belong to the Public Security (a State organization) and, in the alternative, to the M.V.S.N. Finally, if necessary, specialized military units, such as the Army Corps of Engineers, may be involved.

The law enforcement and the fight against crime and overall state security are managed and directed by the Ministry of Interior trough the Directorate General of Public Security. It takes advantage of the contribution of the Royal Guard of Finance (Ministry of National Economy) and the M.V.S.N. In turn, the Militia, according to the general directives issued by the Duce, directs the Central Security Office, which is responsible for the direction of the fight against serious organized crime, such as drug trafficking, the Mafia and mafia-type associations, and the judicial part of the political defence of the state and the regime. The ordinary judges, organized and managed by the Ministry of Justice, are responsible for both the common and organized crime. Law enforcement also includes the routine and semi-critical public order protection.

The military defence of the state is entrusted to the Ministry of National Defence and the Italian Armed Forces (including Royal Carabinieri); they are supported by the Royal Police Corps (acting as support to the military police activity) and the Italian National Royal Guard: the latter provides both the military police services and military forces for missions abroad.

Finally, the political defence is primarily entrusted to the M.V.S.N., which is responsible for providing armed defence of the Fascist Regime and intelligence activities to defend the Fascist Revolution. The intelligence resources are provided by all three components: the Military Information Service, the intelligence apparatus of Public Security (police elements of Central Security Office, Confidential Affairs and Political Police), the intelligence-related activities of the Royal Guard of Finance and the O.V.R.A., which is the intelligence service of the Militia. In turn, the O.V.R.A. relies on Legions of Provincial M.V.S.N. The Director General of the O.V.R.A. is responsible for coordinating O.V.R.A. and senior management of all the information apparatus. The armed protection of the Fascist Revolution is provided by the National Royal Guard and, in the alternative, by the Public Security and the military departments fit for purpose. For the military defence of the regime, the GNR has mainly "M" Battalions and the Legionary Corps.

In the most sensitive areas of the country (major cities, regions of high criminality or potential separatist tendencies), multiple security services are deployed in an overlapping fashion: Public Security, G.N.R., M.V.S.N., and O.V.R.A.; all of these organizations, as well as the military intelligence, maintain positions in Rome and other key cities. Sensitive rural regions often see a mix of M.V.S.N. (as territorial garrison), G.N.R. and regular military forces. This security architecture is designed to ensure that no force can pose a threat to the Regime and that no one can take unilateral control of the task of defending the Revolution.

Intelligence and security agencies

The Italian intelligence and security agencies are the complex of Government agencies and bodies responsible for Italian security and intelligence activities. While consisting of two major bodies, Italian intelligence operates as a coordinated complex under the Governmental political direction and under O.V.R.A. administrative coordination. The major departments are: the Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism (the P.N.F. agency), the political intelligence branch of the Public Security and the Military Information Service.

Party security organizations (including some O.V.R.A. departments, GNR, some PNF departments and Militia political offices) are kept distinct, although not always separated, from state and public security organizations and agencies. This separation between Party and State intelligence agencies, and within Party agencies and within State agencies, although nor full nor antagonistic, has been adopted and deepened during late 1990s and early 2000s in order to provide a complex "watchers-of-the-watchers" web; this policy has been adopted to prevent or even avoid that some external power (namely the U.K. and the U.S.A.) might overturn against Italo Debalti's rule and government the whole security apparatus. Therefore, there are intelligence, police and military organizations both for the State and for the Party; the whole security network is controlled and managed by the collective leadership and, ultimately, by Duce Italo Debalti.

Other national security organizations

Beyond security and intelligence agencies, such as O.V.R.A. and the S.I.M., there are also some organizations which are necessary in order to carry out security services in a polity where the rule of law is required. However, the rule of law is enforced only if the security of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Italian Empire would not be affected. These organizations are:

  • Intelligence units and organizations within the Ministry of the Interior (Directorate General of Public Security) and their counterparts in the former Colonies;
  • Central Security Office, within the M.V.S.N.;
    • Special Court for State Security;
  • Italian National Royal Guard and its Autonomous branches;
  • O.V.R.A.'s daughter organizations

Emergency security framework

The security framework is mainly designed to react to the internal rebellion. The entire national territory is divided into a series of large wards, each of which comprises several Provinces; in each ward, a general manager is designated secretly, for a possible time of emergency. These structures entry into force automatically, when communications with Rome are interrupted: at that time the general managers entry into action taking on the whole State powers the knowing exactly, according to a prearranged plan, what to do. In case of emergency moments of an alternative system of satellite and orbital communications is active, being secured by a number of military ships.

Not always the general manager is the most senior Prefect or the Prefect of the most important city: in some cases, he can be the local Quaestor, the local Military Commander, a Party's Federal Secretary or another man of strong energy and absolutely trustworthy.

People and positions

The aforementioned overlapping networks and responsibilities are ordinarily coordinated at political level by the Duce himself, by the Government and by the Council of Minister because all such units, responsibilities and networks report to different chains of command. On the other hand, the system is carefully designed in order to have multiple potentially competing positions, but not necessarily competing persons: an essential feature of the crisis/security/safety management apparatus (in its widest sense), both in Italy and in the Italian Empire, is that multiple senior positions may be held by the same person and protocols and procedures for this occurrence actually exist, although such a provision is strictly classified and reserved for the most serious circumstances. The basic aim of this feature is to be able to lawfully streamline the list of security senior officers in a short period of time, while keeping distinct, but further unified, otherwise competing organizations.

The most common occurrence is the appointment of a Militia and Public Security Leader (Italian: Capo della Milizia e della Pubblica Sicurezza) but there is no pre-definite limitation in the possibility of combining executive positions: even the posts of Director-General of Public Security and of Commandant-General of the M.V.S.N. may be held by the same person. Of course, the more senior the positions combined, the more dire the circumstances must be, if only for the powerful leverage involved.

Public Bodies

A public body is an entity established or recognized by law, through which the public administration carries out its administrative function for the pursuit of a public interest. The public bodies outside the ministerial structure constitute, as a whole, the indirect public administration. All public bodies are legal persons.
A public body must be established or recognized by law, it must have powers to issue authoritative provisions, it must be established or recognized by the State, it must be subject to control and interference by the State. Each public body, as endowed with administrative powers, enjoys the characteristic of the authoritativeness of its administrative provisions.
Usually a public body has regulatory autonomy, financial autonomy, accounting autonomy. Greater autonomy is recognized to public bodies that are the expression of sector communities, such as chambers of production, or carry out activities supported by guarantees, such as universities. The power of self-defence is guaranteed to every public body or to any other body established by the law regarding the possibility of resolving a current or potential conflict of interest and, in particular, of reviewing the validity of its own acts producing effects on the same, in the protection of the public interest.
Public bodies, as legal persons, pursue the aims established by their own statute. To pursue specific goals, public bodies are endowed with administrative powers and can also act according to private law. The ordinary public body is a single-purpose entity; unlike the local authority, the public body is usually entrusted with the care of a single public interest. In the event that the public body enjoys economic autonomy, it is not subject to budget constraints.

Aim and finality

The Fascist State, through the tool of public bodies, penetrates deeply, in this way, into the pores of the social and economic fabric; but at the same time the State, through public bodies, organizes particular interests, and coordinates them in view of the national interest: how to absorb its lymph, leaving it at the same time to intimately permeate it. The indirect public administration realizes that pluralism of interests, in turn reflected in the corresponding pluralism of the institutions.
The "public body" (with its own governing bodies, with its own budget and personnel) is useful for managing the issuance of public resources towards individual sectors, according to the overnative plan, but it also serves to carry out the mobilization of the masses and the literal occupation of the national society. The public body is therefore the main instrument of the "State as political subject", the State of the national mobilization in a black shirt.
In the formation of public-collective bodies, the bottom-up push is prevalent, on the part of the interests aggrumatisi in a given sector, expressed in the request to constitute a public body: the pressure on the State of the consortium groups; the consequent patronage of some hierarch; public recognition of the original interest; the institutive law to sanction its "national" or in any case social character; the approval of the articles of association and internal regulations, generally drawn up within the boundaries of the competent ministries but in agreement with the first promoters; the composition of the managing group of the new institute thus created, at least partially, with the representatives of that original group bearing the initial request.

Classification

Public bodies can be divided into economic entities, and administrative bodies, which operate mainly under administrative law. Public bodies are also divided into associative entities, in which the subjects belonging to the group affect certain decisions concerning the activity of the entity, and institutions with an institutional structure, in which the directors are appointed by external subjects.
Public-collective bodies achieve a mixture of the state and phenomena produced by social groups that have entered the public sphere. They are the type of public body used by Fascism to subsume social ganglia in the State. Finally, the consortium bodies are the expression of the association of first-degree bodies.

Supervision

Public bodies are subject to ministerial supervision and the work of the management is subject to the supervision of the supervising minister and the Minister of Economic Activities. Furthermore, the Court of Auditors exercises control over the financial management of public bodies, which ends with the exercise of a power of reporting to the Chief of Government.
Public bodies have their own organs (as a rule, President and Board of Directors), appointed by the government, which dictate the objectives and directives to their offices. Supervisory powers are generally the responsibility of the government authority, which holds powers of management. The public body usually assumes a hierarchical structure. The Chairman and the Board of Directors are called upon to manage assets in the interest of third parties. In some public bodies the assembly body is also present, which intervenes in the representation of the stakeholders of the sector in which the same entity operates.

Mass Organizations

The main core function of the National Fascist Party is to convoy and express with a fascist characterization social demands, as well as to frame all social bodies into fascist social development. In this sense, the PNF is an instrument to develop Italian society and community, being the main medium to link individuals to State. The mass organizations are an integral part of society. They serve to integrate the individual into the social life of the Nation and are designed to support the unity of interests and deeds. The mass organizations are very much the stepchildren of the Fascist ideology, and are the political-social counterparts of the economic Corporations. Therefore, Party mass organizations are also State organizations and vice-versa: Italy maintains several mass organizations, whose membership is strongly encouraged, although not strictly mandatory. These organizations are instrumental to militarise and develop in a fascist sense the Italian society, as well as those of the other realms of the Italian Empire, although to a lesser degree. The main "Mass Organizations" which are officially recognized are: the Italian Lictor Youth (Gioventù Italiana del Littorio, G.I.L.) and the National After-work Agency (Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro, O.N.D.).
All Mass Organizations are subordinated as autonomous agencies to the relevant Ministry, if any.

Administrative Guarantee

The Administrative Guarantee is the legal institution that affects the prosecution against certain public officials, by subjecting it to prior authorization. The Administrative Guarantee allows the executive and the public service to define, from time to time, the boundaries between administrative offences and criminal offences, by selecting the behaviours of the civil servants to be submitted to the court.
The Administrative Guarantee protects two broad categories: local government officials (prefectures, provinces and municipalities) and police. All Prefects (both with local government duties and others) and and whoever takes their place, all Provincial Deans and whoever takes their place, all Podestà and whoever takes their place (in his capacity as government's official), the Governor of Rome and whoever takes his place cannot be prosecuted without an authorization to proceed, which is granted by decree of the Duce, after consulting the State Council. Similarly, officers and agents of judicial police and of public security, as well as military troops in public security service, cannot be prosecuted for offences committed with the use of arms without a permission which must be granted (and it is usually denied) by the Minister of Justice.

Types of interorganic relationships

In general, bodies have no legal personality. Nonetheless, interorganic relationships are legally relevant for the legal system.

Hierarchy

The administrative hierarchy is the legal relationship between a higher-level organ and a subordinate body. Among the relationships between a plurality of organs, the hierarchy has the highest degree of intensity: the organ in position of supremacy is recognised a number of specific powers, such as the power to give orders and be subject to the control of the subordinate body, to revoke the inappropriate acts may be adopted by this, to delegate the exercise of functions, withdraw powers.
The hierarchy is expressed also in the ability to exercise real powers of substitution in the case of inertia of the subordinate organ. The administrative hierarchy acts, moreover, as principle of distribution of powers within the administrative organization. It is a typical feature of the ministerial bureaucracy.
The hierarchy also finds application in the system of administrative protection: there is, in fact, the possibility of appeal to a higher authority hierarchical body that has adopted an administrative act. That action, possible precisely because of the position of supremacy, it is recognized to the recipient of the administrative act that is considered spoiled, which can request its annulment, both for reasons of legitimacy and merit.
The hierarchical relationship is the standard in the Italian public administration. The hierarchical relationship is maintained in order to guarantee the possibility of interference by the governing body in the sphere of competence of the managers and in order to prevent the distinction of functions, which is incompatible with the hierarchical principle.

Direction

The power of direction is an autonomous power, limited in diffusion in public administrations. In the direction relationship, the organs are placed in an inequality position, but the superordinate organ has, in particular, powers of propulsion, direction and control over the subordinate recipient, to whom, however, the right to choose is left in relation to the times and methods of the action to be carried out to achieve the established results.
In the direction relationship, the superordinate organ has mainly a power of direction towards the subordinate organ, which is substantiated in the issue of the operating directives and in the subsequent verification of the results achieved. Typically, the relationship between a public body and the relevant Ministry or Ministries is a direction relationship.

Coordination

The power of coordination is even less intense than the power of direction. It is sometimes recognized by an office as compared to other offices, also hierarchically not inferior, in order to coordinate and harmonize its activity according to a coherent and organic design in view of results of common interest.
The coordinating power is expressed in the possibility, recognized to the coordinating organ, of imparting the suitable dispositions for the realization of the unitary design, supervising the observance of them. Given the hierarchic nature of the Italian government, the coordination relationship is very limited.

Control

The interorganic control relationship consists in the possibility that a organ may audit the work of another organ for prevention or repair purposes, and to safeguard the interests over which it is called to supervise.

See also